The last John Grisham book I read was The Summons, and it was a decent read. Before that, the last Grisham book I had tackled was The Chamber, but I got bored and put it down before I was even a fourth of the way through, and have never picked it up again. Now, as far as decent fiction you don't have to really think about, the kind of books perfect for waiting around in airports, flying, or while on your daily bus or train commute, Grisham's work is usually perfect. I adore The Pelican Brief, not only because of the the writing, but also because my wife went to Tulane Law, and we were living in New Orleans when I read the book and when the movie came out. It's the only Grisham novel I have in hardcover. However, like I said, with one exception, it's been awhile since I picked up a Grisham book. That changed two weeks ago. On Sunday, December 18th, while browsing the books at Costco, I happened upon The Broker. I read the synopsis on the back cover. It sounded intriguing. Certainly more intriguing than the synopses for the other Grisham books I'd picked up and not purchased for the past decade or so. It went in to the cart, and I started reading it a couple of hours after we got home. I finished it Monday night. Yes, that Monday, as in the very next day, the 19th. I told my wife how good I thought it was, and she started it three days ago, and finished it off last night. It's as if after a long dry spell of just churning out books because that was what was expected of him, Grisham decided to write a book he would enjoy writing (which it sounds like he did, based on the acknowledgments) as well as one he would enjoy reading, and it shows. Most of the book takes place in Italy, which Grisham traveled through as part of his research. This could very well have a lot to do with why I enjoyed the book, as the author transports you to the cities and towns of Italy, and it gave my imagination a workout. Yet it has to be more than that, and I believe it's because it has the Grisham flow that made his early works so popular. The Broker is not going to win any literary awards, but let's face it: as with the Academy Awards, awards don't often reflect the reality of the marketplace. It's a fun book, and Retrophisch™ Recommended.

Hank Hanegraaff, of the "Bible Answer Man" radio show, and author Sigmund Brouwer have teamed up to write The Last Disciple, a novel about first-century Christians, and the people they come in to contact with, undergoing the Great Tribulation under the reign of Nero. Hanegraaff and Brouwer operate from a different view of biblical translation and interpretation than Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins do in the Left Behind series. As they state in the Afterword, they seek not to divide the Church over this issue, but rather encourage debate and study of the book of Revelation. Simply put, Hanegraaff and Brouwer believe that many of the prophecies the apostle John was witness to, and transcribed in to what we know as Revelation, have already been fulfilled, as they were written to the early Christian church. You can read more on their take at the book's Web site. The Last Disciple features several characters, including the wicked Nero, but follows mostly the path of Gallus Sergius Vitas, one of Nero's inner circle. Vitas, a former military commander and from a Roman founding family, has grown tired of Nero's persecution of Christians. He doesn't care for the Christians because they are followers of Christ who refuse to bow to Nero, but rather he is tired of bloodshed in general, having seen too much of it when he was fighting in Britannia, and lost his wife and son, natives of the isle. In the course of his trying to subtly subvert Nero, Vitas discovers an old friend has accepted Christ, and Vitas falls in love with a former slave, also a Christian. In the mean time, Vitas's brother Damien, in an attempt to recapture the honor he has cost the family name, becomes a fearsome slave hunter. Damien is hired by another of Nero's inner circle, this time to find the writer of Revelation, the letter Nero fears and hates. Damien is hired to hunt down John, the last disciple of Christ. Hanegraaff and Brouwer craft a good read, taking you through the workings and machinations of Nero's inner circle, the duplicitous politics, the last moments of a Christian on the arena floor, and the feelings of a man who walked and talked with the Creator and Savior of the universe.

Brad Thor delivers another Scot Harvath adventure in State of the Union, as the former Navy SEAL and ex-Secret Service agent is pitted against a Cold War enemy bent on the domination of the United States. Thor sets a good pace, and lets the reader inside Harvath's head. I found at times that Thor was trying too hard to be Clancy-esque in his descriptions of weapons systems and other equipment, but otherwise, this is a decent thriller.